Following another in a series of Chicago Bears losses marked by dubious clock management, the Matt Eberflus era reached its expiration date.
This was the observation of future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt after Thursday’s 23-20 loss to Detroit: “Man, I feel for you, Bears fans,” Watt wrote on the social media website X. “That was brutal. Literal coaching malpractice.”
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported Saturday that the Bears have dismissed Eberflus. Thomas Brown, who was promoted to offensive coordinator on Nov. 12, will serve as the interim coach, according to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Eberflus becomes the first Bears head coach ever fired in midseason. The loss to Detroit was the team’s sixth in a row, and marked the third time during that stretch that they botched a chance to win as an underdog.
The Bears had come back from a 23-7 deficit to give themselves a chance to win or, more likely, force the game into overtime. After driving from their own 1 yard line to the Detroit 25 with 43 seconds left, they ran a three-play series with disastrous consequences.
First a penalty on guard Teven Jenkins to offset a 13-yard completion to Keenan Allen, then a sack of Caleb Williams and finally, as the final 28 seconds ticked off the clock, a long incompletion when they could have reached field-goal range with a short pass.
The Bears had one timeout left but the game ended as Williams took too long to get the final play organized. The loss was a harsh reminder of chances missed when they had a last-second field goal blocked by Green Bay and when Washington beat them on a last-second Hail Mary. They are 4-8, with a 2-6 record in games decided by one score.
Eberflus, hired at the conclusion of an unusual job search in 2022, went 14-32 replacing Matt Nagy, although it’s unfair to judge him off that record. He was given the mission of sharing a foundation-up rebuild of the roster with General Manager Ryan Poles, and this is the first season the team was expected to be competitive. But a 5-19 record in one-score games speaks to an ongoing pattern of losing winnable games.
Poles fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron after a run of unproductive games by the offense, which seems to have provided a spark for Williams. But dubious clock management continues to be a problem.
Brown becomes the fifth Bears head coach since Lovie Smith was fired after a 10-6 season in 2012. Eberflus became the third of those to not reach his fourth season.
Eberflus was asked about status after Thursday’s loss.
“This is the NFL,” he said. “I know where it is. And I’m just gonna put my best foot forward, and I’m gonna get to work and keep grinding. So that’s what we do.”
Reporters covering the game in Detroit then asked if he expected to remain the head coach next week.
“Like I said, I’m just gonna keep grinding and working,” he answered. “That’s what I do.”
Poles and Eberflus were hired after simultaneous searches that followed a house-cleaning ordered by Chairman George McCaskey. The search was run by McCaskey with assistance from Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian and three others and resulted in Poles being selected as general manager on Jan. 25, 2022. He immediately jumped into the ongoing coach search, which resulted in Eberflus being hired on Jan. 27, Poles’ second day on his new job.
While McCaskey had said the decision on both hires would be his, it’s assumed Poles had a say in selecting Eberflus, then the Colts’ defensive coordinator, over the other two finalists, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell.
Five other current NFL head coaches were hired in that cycle, all after McCaskey and Poles welcomed Eberflus to Chicago. That listed is headed by the Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell and includes Mike McDaniel (Dolphins), Brian Daboll (Giants), Todd Bowles (Bucaneers) and Doug Pederson (Jaguars).
It’s unclear how the Bears’ process would have played out had Poles been in charge from the start. The former Kansas City player personnel executive will get that chance in January, unless Brown is so impressive he earns the job going forward.
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